Twelve Steps
by kaname's harisen
Summary: Yes, Ino thought as she drifted off, I'm so glad I chose this life. / Ino and Chouji's love story, told through a series of ficlets - originally written for the NarutoLoveFest on deviantart /
1. forever yours

This was Team ChoIno's fanfiction submission for week 4 of the NarutoLoveFest on deviantart! We wanted to make this as much of a team effort as possible, so every member of the team contributed to the prompts which I used to create the story.

And since it was an 'alliance' formation for this week's assignment, my wonderful teammates made some magnificent artwork to go with this story. If you want to check them out, I've posted the links in my profile.

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><p><strong>.<strong>

.

_For most people,  
>it takes a <strong>multitude <strong>of moments to create **one**_

**{**_** lifetime **_**}**

**.o.**

_But as for  
><strong>Ino Yamanaka<strong> & **Chouji Akimichi**,  
>they can connect the dots of their <strong>forever <strong>through_

**{ _twelve steps_ }**

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	2. step 1

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**{ impressions }**

Ino skipped down the sidewalk, her sticky hand tight in her father's grasp, and hummed happily to herself.

Last night, Inoichi Yamanaka returned from a month-long mission and his first order of business, other than sleeping in his own bed, was to get reacquainted with his young daughter. So when morning came, he surprised Ino with a trip into the village shopping district. He let her lead him wherever she wanted to go, buying enough shoes and dresses and little baubles to fill several bags. After that, Inoichi treated his little girl to some ice cream, smiling to himself when she insisted upon an extra napkin so it wouldn't drip onto her clothes. And despite it not being what he'd personally consider a fun time, it had been a good day so far.

"Look, Daddy!" Ino exclaimed. "There's the playground! Can we go? Please, please,_please_? Mama never has time to take me."

"Alright, alright. We'll go," he conceded. As quickly as the words left his mouth, she ran. With a chuckle, Inoichi sat down on a nearby bench, which was already occupied. "So, Chouza, out with your boy?"

"Yeah," his big-boned teammate replied. "Chouji wanted barbeque. Your girl?"

"Shoes and dresses."

Chouza grinned. "Sounds about right."

"Daddy!" Ino huffed as she ran up to him, a beaming smile on her face. "Here, hold my flower while I play."

"Now, where'd you get that?"

"From my new friend, Chouji!" She turned and waved proudly at the boy. "See, Daddy, there he is. He's super nice. He even lets me boss him around, unlike that stupid Shikamaru." Ino stuck her tongue out in playful disgust, then ran off again before Inoichi could so much as make a comment.

Next to him, Chouza burst out in laughter. "She's getting attention from boys already. I do not envy you."

"It's _your _boy." Inoichi pointed out grumpily. "And don't think his age or our friendship is going to protect him if he hurts my little girl."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. They're only five."

Inoichi sighed as he watched the two children play. "Yeah, but they won't always be."


	3. step 2

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**{ excitement }**

Chouji lingered in the doorway with a smile so big he could barely see over his bunched cheeks. The sight of the classroom filled with prospective ninja – _all close to his age, no less!_ – and shinobi tools of the trade – _shuriken, senbon, and kunai all agleam_ – sent his little heart into an arrhythmic pattern. It was wondrous!

The sensei had yet to arrive so the children milled about, some engaged in conversation, others showing off their limited skills. From his place outside, Chouji contemplated whether or not to join them. He wanted to, was eager even, but a lack of confidence held him back. He'd had little opportunity to socialize with other children with the exception of his Akimichi cousins and they, being a fair bit older, had not been especially accommodating. In his mind, those experiences did not bear repeating, so he'd rather wait until the adults showed up before he braved an attempt. But then he saw _her_, his friend from the playground, and he knew everything would be alright.

"Ino!" he called out, waving as he approached. "Hey, Ino!"

The pretty blonde turned towards him, raising her hand in recognition, and the gaggle of girls that surrounded her burst out in a fit of giggles.

"Are you serious?" one them said, buffing her nails on her pink shirt. "Do you really know him?"

Ino lowered her hand and shifted her gaze to her shuffling her feet. "I–"

"Oh wow, Ino," another spoke up. "He's so uncool, just look at him."

"Yeah, I bet won't even make chuunin." The first girl wrinkled up her nose. "He's never going to be a good shinobi. He's too f–"

"No," Ino interrupted, her voice strangely high-pitched. "I don't know him. So let's just ignore him and talk about something else, okay? Um, did you see the Uchiha boy yet? I heard he's pretty cute..."

Chouji walked to the back of the classroom, took a seat, and kept his head down for the rest of the day.


	4. step 3

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**{ familiarity }**

"Look, this is just a reconnaissance mission. You got that?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties in a twist, Shika." Ino smacked his shoulder, then moved in front of Chouji. "I'll get in, get out, and we'll be on our merry way."

"I mean it, Ino. All we need is confirmation that either Orochimaru or Kabuto have been there recently - nothing else." Shikamaru's sharp eyes studied her face, the grim line of his lips unwavering. "We're not here for _him_."

"I know."

"Good. If there's any sign of trouble, I want you to release your jutsu immediately." Shikamaru turned to Chouji. "You got her?"

"Like always," – Chouji placed his hands on her waist and nodded – "ready whenever you are, Ino."

Ino lined up her mark, the single guard standing watch outside the cave's entrance, and moved through her sequence of hand signs. After a moment, which she used to adjust to her new body, she headed inside. The tunnel drove straight back into the hillside for several meters, then it opened into a large circular room housing two metal doors. The small room behind the first door held a few basic supplies, mainly food and water. The second room stunk when she opened it, the odor no doubt coming from jars of rotting specimens on the shelves, and the medical equipment inside was covered with a thick coat of dust. Ino sighed.

Another dead end.

The mission done, Ino rushed outside, eager to get away from Orochimaru's creepy leftovers. The boys saw her as she emerged and she shook her head, dejected. As Shikamaru's shoulders hunched in shared disappointment, Ino raised her hands to release her jutsu, only to pause mid-motion.

_Chouji_.

Missions normally involved chaos – _weapons, blood, death_ – so she'd never taken the time to study him in this capacity before now. He cradled her body in his arms, hovering defensively over her, and his gaze settled firmly on her face, as if he was waiting for the moment when her mind would return. In spite of all the hurtful things she'd said about him, _to him_, over the years, he continued to protect her unfailingly. Even more, his expression towards her, the one currently wore, still managed to shine with a tenderness she knew she didn't deserve.

_Hell, _Ino admitted to herself, _I've been such an ass._

Then she opened her own eyes and, looking up at his sincere smile, she decided to never again close them to his potential.


	5. step 4

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**{ coy }**

"I'm so sorry," Chouji said, a sheepish smile on his face. "Here, let me help you up."

The woman slapped his hand away and scowled. "Watch where you're going, you useless tub of lard!"

As she stomped off, he ran a hand through his hair. His head bowed in dejection, he kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk. "Sorry," Chouji whispered again, though the woman couldn't hear him. With a sigh, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked in the opposite direction.

Chouji wandered through Konoha's streets as he digested the woman's cruel words. He'd heard them before, of course, many a time. Even his teammates used them from time to time. As much as he tried to not to give those painful words power over him, they still hurt. The worst of it came from knowing that his size should be seen as a badge of honor; as an Akimichi, his mass translated into chakra, so the bigger he got, the more effective he worked as a shinobi. Unfortunately, their society, even being so influenced by the ninja way of life, continued to mark him as unattractive.

"Chouji?" Ino stood there, wrapped up in her fuzzy old robe with her hair in a messy bun, just looking at him. Then she tilted her head, confusion wrinkling her forehead. "You okay? You've been pacing in front of my house for nearly twenty minutes." When he didn't answer, she closed the distance between them and latched onto his arm. "Come on, crazy. I'll make you some tea and you can tell me all about it. I have something I've been meaning to say to you, anyway."

She dragged him inside and shoved him down onto the couch, before heading to the kitchen. After a few minutes, Ino returned with a tray of tea, just as she promised, and some cookies. "So," she asked, "do you want to go first?"

Unsure as to whether he actually wanted to share his thoughts, he shook his head.

"Alright. My turn, I guess." Ino poured them each a cup and took a deep breath. "Well, I've been thinking about the message my dad gave me. You know, just before the headquarters was hit? I misunderstood it at the time, thinking he was talking about one thing when he was really talking about something else entirely." She paused, noticing Chouji's look of bafflement, and waved her hands. "That isn't the point. What I'm trying to say is, well... I'm sorry. I haven't been the friend that you deserve and why you put up with me, I'll never know. But if you give me the chance, I think I can be. I want to be the person my dad knew I could be and – _I think_ – the best way for me to start is with you."

"Yeah," he said softly, his eyes now alight with happy surprise, "that'd be nice."

When Chouji walked home that night – _after tea and cookies, and later, a bowl of ramen_ – he felt so light, a childhood's worth of negativity washed away, that he worried that he might just float away.


	6. step 5

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**{ benevolence }**

"That was a pretty piece of work, but I won't fall for those tricks like my master." The man kicked the corpse aside with vehemence, spitting on it. "Best get ready, girlie."

Somewhere to her left, Chouji desperately called out her name, the sound muffled by the surrounding trees. They'd been ambushed, outnumbered, and in the resulting skirmish, they'd also been separated. Chouji had immediately employed his Baika no Jutsu, leading most of the group farther into the forest. That left only two enemies for Ino to deal with, one of whom she'd defeated with a mere batting of her eyes and a precisely thrown kunai. But this man was different; his gaze was cold and calculating, his smile malevolent.

Ino widened her stance and prepared for his attack, wielding a fresh kunai. But her enemy moved with unnatural swiftness. One second she stood upright and the next she lay flat on her back. He pinned her, his weight straddling her hips, and leaned fully into her space. His foul breath rolled over her neck in hot puffs.

"So, what're you gonna do now?" the man asked, dragging the blade of his knife lightly across her cheek and over her jugular.

The cold steel slid farther down, scraping against the buttons that held her top together and her head buzzed with pain. But she refused to panic. Ino gave him her most defiant stare as her fingers fumbled around in the blood-soaked soil, searching for her dropped weapon. "Go to hell."

"Nice try." He grabbed her hand, smashing it into a nearby rock, and Ino cried out in pain. "But nothing's going to stop me from enjoying–"

The man's eyes went wide in pain as Chouji suddenly lifted him off of Ino, yanking his arms out of their sockets in the process. Chouji pulled harder, the skin and sinew tearing under the pressure, and Ino shook her head. "No, Chouji."

"But Ino–"

"No," she said again. "Just hold him." Ino retrieved her first kunai, the one buried in the leader's skull, and stalked over to her attacker. "If my teammate had his way," she whispered, wiping her weapon clean on the man's shirt, "you would have a slow, painful death. Be thankful I'm more merciful than either of you."

Ino slit his throat, then dropped the kunai and fell to her knees, crying. Chouji joined her, his comforting arms around her shoulders, and they stayed like that until sunset.

Under the cover of night, they walked home.


	7. step 6

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**{ touch }**

Ino changed after that mission.

Her disposition took a turn for the serious, especially where her work was concerned. Before she had been a bright spot of social energy for their team, chattering on each day about the little things that made life worth living. But that was no longer the case. Ino traded gossip for lessons in strategy, crushes for taijutsu spars, and shopping for sharpening her kunai. She stopped going on dates or out with friends, unless required to do so, and instead spent all her free time at the training grounds. This change translated to the battlefield; there Ino moved with cold efficiency, striking out at her enemies with a deadly ease that she'd never had before.

Something fundamental in her spirit – that spark which made her quintessentially _Ino _– was broken.

It terrified Chouji.

He decided to stay close to her after that, supporting her in his own quiet way. To his surprise, Ino didn't protest. In fact, she seemed to find some measure of solace in his presence and often searched him out of her own accord. She walked the long way to the training grounds, passing by his apartment to see if he wanted to join her. At their team meals, she sat next him instead of Shikamaru, and when their shoulders brushed against each other, she'd smile. Sometimes, she even squeezed his hand under the table, just long enough for her to make some small witty comment before letting go. It was during those times, he noticed, that Ino was most like her old self again.

And _that _gave him a glimmer of hope.


	8. step 7

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**{ shopping }**

Ino woke up one day with a closet full of drab, out-of-style outfits and the sudden realization that she'd allowed herself to be a victim for far too long. She was a kunoichi, dammit – the head of her clan and a special-ops jounin at that – and it was high time she acted like it. Frantically, she rummaged through her room, throwing every dress, skirt, shirt, or garment she found, plus every pair of shoes, onto her bed. When she finished, Ino stood back, hands on hips, and surveyed the scene with a wicked grin on her face. This epiphany called for an entirely new wardrobe.

And what good was a new wardrobe without someone to compliment her on her lovely figure?

Ino grabbed her purse and keys, then marched straight to Chouji's apartment, where she requested – well, _ordered_, if she was being honest –that he accompany her for the day. His gob-smacked expression soon turned to one of affable compliance and, to her great pleasure, he readied himself with haste.

**.o.**

"What do you think about this one?"

Ino pranced out of the fitting room, did a little twirl, and stopped in front of the mirrored alcove to survey the dress. The cut of the garment made for a demure silhouette, with the knee-length hem and gentle flair of the skirt – definitely not typical of her everyday style. But the manner in which the capped sleeves came _just so_ off the shoulder and the way the back of the dress plunged, revealing plenty of skin, pleased her nonetheless. Ino looked over her shoulder and opened her mouth to speak, to ask her question again, but as her eyes locked with Chouji's, his expression stilled the words on her tongue.

She'd seen that look before, many times on many different men. Sure, Chouji tempered it with a good measure of friendship and a double dose of respect, but it held little ambiguity. As the blood thrummed loudly through her veins, the moment prolonged and each second brought more certainty, aided by feminine intuition, to her heart.

Written on his face, in the dilation of his eyes and the set of his lips, was desire.

With great effort, Ino turned to face him fully, affecting a mien of confidence. Then she patted his cheek, sauntered away, and bought the dress without even bothering to change out of it.


	9. step 8

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**{ game }**

Team 10 sat in the far corner of the barbeque restaurant, away from the small smattering other customers eating at this late hour, as they finalized a few details for their next mission. Shikamaru gestured to the stack of scrolls in front of them. "What do you think?"

Chouji's hand paused in mid-air, the meat slipping out of his chopstick, and Ino laughed. "Shika, you shouldn't ask for Chouji's opinion like that. I notice he has a tendency to not respond well." Chouji's eyes narrowed and a faint dusting of pink settled in his cheeks, but Ino continued in spite of his discomfiture. "Well, at least not verbally, that is."

Chouji snatched a scroll from his team leader and busied himself with looking through its contents. At his gruff action, Ino worked hard to suppress another fit of joyous laughter. The situation pleased her greatly, how she could get so under his skin, because her shopping day last week had afforded her a second epiphany.

Ino Yamanaka found herself inexplicably, irrevocably attracted to Chouji Akimichi.

Being the action-oriented woman that she was, Ino took it upon herself to test the waters. The fact that Chouji reacted to her allusion to their trip encouraged her; he would not have done so if he had been completely unaffected by their shared moment. But she needed be sure.

Ino leaned towards Chouji, angling her body so that she closed the distance between them. She did not touch him, just carefully hovered near, but heat rolled off of his body, soaking deep into her skin. For a second she merely reveled in it, her breath releasing in a soft sigh. But proximity alone was not her goal, so she focused her mind and went in for the kill. Peering over the curve of his muscled bicep, she pointed. "I think that one, right there."

"Really?" Chouji asked doubtfully, pointing elsewhere on the page. "I thought this would be your preference."

"Don't get me wrong, that one has a lovely form. Slender and flexible, matched with the dark aesthetic. It's pleasing to the eye, that's for sure. But," – Ino traced her finger slowly down the ink figure – "I actually prefer something with a little more heft. More _solidarity_."

Chouji's eyes went wide and the pink grew deeper, his cheeks a gorgeous shade of red. He smiled then, a shy curl of his lips, and whispered in her ear. "I think that can be arranged."

"Seriously, gross," Shikamaru said, pushing back his nearly empty plate and standing up. "When the two of you are ready to talk about the swords, and not as a euphemism for whatever the hell is going on between you, you know where to find me."


	10. step 9

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**{ temptation }**

"Is that all you've got? Come on, Chouji, don't disappoint me."

Chouji threw up his arms to block the oncoming kick to his head, but it did little good. With a smile, Ino slid under his guard and struck out at his side instead, a clever feint. He reacted to her ruse quickly, but with a chakra-enhance leap, she simply danced out of range of his counter attack. He grimaced.

The whole training session Ino had been putting him through his paces, even though the purpose of said training was for her to learn from him and not the other way around, and he placed the blame squarely on her shoulders. Ino distracted him, with her smaller-than-normal shorts and tighter-than-usual top. Her physical proximity stunted his mental function, causing him to make mistakes that he hadn't since he'd been a mere genin, as her touch lingered. He suspected the contact to be purposeful on her part. How else would the soft skin of her bare belly slide across his forearm or her fingers brush along the width of his back? Her taijutsu skills should have allowed for her complete evasion in those instances.

Well, Chouji was done being a target.

Chouji relaxed his stance, dropping his hands and standing completely upright, and closed his eyes. His hearing sharpened to compensate and he could hear the soft rustling of pine needles as she stealthily approached. He waited for her to be well within his range, the ticking seconds wearing on his patience. When she finally made her move, he grabbed her by the elbow and dug in his heels, causing her to flip over his shoulder. Swiftly, he dropped to the ground, pinning her firmly underneath his body. Her undone hair splayed out behind her head and her chest heaved against his as she took in several deep breaths.

_Ino was beautiful._

She opened her mouth to speak and Chouji could no longer contain himself. He pressed his lips to hers, a brief yet tender meeting, and waited for her reaction. For a moment, she seemed merely dazed, but then she grinned brilliantly, tugged on his hair, and asked again, "Is that all you've got?"

"Not even close." Chouji grinned back. "But I don't share my tricks with just anyone."

"Well," she said with a sly flutter of lashes, "would you be willing to share them with, say, a girlfriend?"

Chouji spoke his answer into the warmth of her mouth. "I think I could be persuaded."


	11. step 10

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**{ honor }**

"Oh, Chouji!" Ino squealed, her face beaming. "It's the playground! Can we go? _Please_? It'll be just for a minute, then we'll go wherever you have planned. I promise."

"Silly woman." Chouji chuckled, pulling her forward by their clasped hands. "This was our destination all along. Come on," – he gestured to the swing set – "I'll push you."

With Chouji's help, Ino rose higher and higher and higher, filling the night air with her breathless laughter. She held her head back, gazing up into the starry sky, and let the turbulent breezes created by her swinging run through her hair. Carefree and young, she felt so grateful to the man behind her. Many in their line of work lost that spark, that ability to be truly alive, long before they could even be considered proper adults. She had lost that vitality once, too. But Chouji brought it back to her, cultivating it with his kind heart and unfailing loyalty, and now she, a war-hardened kunoichi in her mid-twenties, held a lightness in her heart that she had not felt since her childhood.

Wrapping a strong arm around her waist, Chouji stopped the swing and spun her around so that she faced him. He peppered her face with kisses, grazing over her cheeks, nose, and lips. Then he took her hands into one of his own, pulled a small box out of his pocket, and knelt before her. "Ino, I–"

"Yes!" Ino exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"But I haven't even asked yet." Chouji chuckled softly into her ear. "You're ruining the moment."

"I don't care," she said. Then she pulled away from him, her eyes narrowed critically. "Unless, of course, that's not an engagement ring in that box. In that case, you'd bit in a lot of trouble, Chouji Akimichi."

"I suppose that's good for me, then," he replied, opening the box to reveal a tiny gold flower, the stem of which had been fashioned into a delicate circle band. Then he placed it on her finger.

Ino studied her hand, marveling in the way the moonlight shone on the precious token of their love. The beauty of it, of him, brought tears to her eyes, but she took a deep breath and held them in. She had a much better use for that overflow of emotion. "Come on," she said. "Let's go to your place."

"My place? Isn't it kind of early? I mean, I still have other things planned and–"

"The only thing left on the agenda for tonight," – Ino grabbed him by the belt, pulling him close – "is for me to thoroughly ravish you."

"Yes, dear," Chouji huskily replied as she led him away.


	12. step 11

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**{ dedication }**

"Dammit, Ino," Sakura bellowed. "Don't give up on me now. Push!"

"Shut. Up. Forehead." Sweat collected on Ino's brow as she forced the syllables out through her clenched teeth. Her grip on Chouji's hand tightened, clamping down with bone-crushing pressure. "This fucking hurts, okay?"

"Well, I'm elbow deep in amniotic fluid with an up-close view of your vagina and you don't hear me complaining." Sakura blew wayward strand of hair out of her face and stared her best friend in the eye. "This baby is ready to meet his mother, so you damn well better get with the program, Pig."

"Fine," Ino said. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and did as Sakura asked. Red colored her face, as did lines of pain, but when the sounds of their child's first cry rang through the air, she slumped back into the lumpy hospital-issued pillows with a look of acute satisfaction. "_Finally_."

Sakura worked quickly, cleaning and clothing the wailing infant, while Chouji simply watched in awe, struck silent by the magnitude of the moment. The medic handed him the tightly wrapped bundled, a soft smile curling her lips. "Congratulations, it's a boy."

"Wow, I'm a father," Chouji whispered. Ino squeezed his hand lightly, the gesture laced with her fatigue, and he kissed her temple. "And you are absolutely beautiful."

"Are you kidding me?" Ino laughed wryly. "I'm a mess. I mean, just look at– ew, gross! Sakura, can you do something about," – Ino gestured to the bottom half of her body – "all this?"

"Yeah, yeah." Sakura replied as she tended to her adult patient again, removing the afterbirth and soiled cloths. "I can't believe it. Ino, a mother."

His wife's blue eyes glossed over, saline threatening to fall. "Surreal, huh?"

"A little, yeah. So, what's this strapping young man's name?"

Chouji gave the child to his mother and, as she ran a finger tenderly over his small patch of blond fluff, she answered. "Inoki... His name is Inoki."

Sakura turned away for a brief moment, clearing her throat and wiping her cheeks. Then she pressed a hand gently over Ino's shoulder. "Your father would be proud."


	13. step 12

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**{ journey }**

Ino sighed, deep and content, and reclined onto her back. Puffy, white clouds floated through the sky, curling lazily into half-formed shapes, and all was at peace. She wiggled, settling more comfortably into the plush green grass, and pointed up. "What about that one?"

"That one," he whispered into her ear, "is a piece of meat being grilled. See there? That's the skewer and underneath it is the coals."

"You always see food, Chouji." She laughed and shook her head, the motion tangling her loose white-blonde hair, then rolled over. Propped up on her elbow, she hovered over him, smiling tenderly. Gray peppered his wild mane and there were faint lines, from both joy and sadness, around his eyes and mouth. He'd put on a few – _just a few, mind you_ – extra pounds over the years, but that extra mass was worth every bit of chakra that he'd gained along with it. Overcome, Ino leaned down and kissed his mouth.

_This man was hers and she wouldn't change a thing about him._

Chouji wrapped her up and flipped their positions, and suddenly her heart soared. Even after all these years, it never failed, the flood of beautiful emotions he could send through her. He trailed kisses down her neck and over her collarbone, the skin heating up under his lips, and her breath hitched in anticipation. The rough palm of his hand slid over her knee, scrunching up the skirt of her sundress. Ino grasped his cheeks and pulled him in for a languorous kiss. He responded readily and with fervor, and it had her reaching for his belt.

"Obaa-chan! Ojii-chan! Where are you? I'm bored!"

Chouji nestled his face into the crook of her shoulder, chuckling. After a moment, he rose and gave her his hand. "Come on, _Obaa-chan_. I think we've just been volunteered to play a game with Sumire."

"Fine. But don't think _our _game is over, hubby." Ino winked and then called out, "We're in the back, sweetie... if you can find us!"

The two played hide and seek with their rambunctious little granddaughter until their old bones ached. Then, after tea and a snack, they all laid down for an afternoon nap.

_Yes_, Ino thought as she drifted off, sandwiched between Chouji and their son's precious child, _I'm so glad I chose this life._


End file.
